crafts

Thanksgiving is coming fast and that means it is time for me to share some Easy Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids! This is one of my favorite holidays to do art projects for. There are so many variations of what you can do but, by far my most favorite project is making turkeys. This is the easiest project to customize to your child’s abilities.

20 Easy Thanksgiving Crafts for Kids

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Kids everywhere will be creating turkeys in their classroom and at home in the coming weeks. This classic representative of the Thanksgiving holiday is a favorite easy Thanksgiving crafts standard. Whether you use handprints, footprints, or silly feathers glued to a paper, a homemade turkey is amazing.

Before you get started, stock up your craft room with a few must-have items! For Thanksgiving, a few things are a must when it comes to easy crafts. Construction paper, feathers, faux leaves, glitter glue, and such are all a must in our craft box, and are needed for these projects!

These are just a few ideas that can work wonderfully for easy Thanksgiving crafts you can make with your kids. There are so many options to make this project your own. Be creative, make memories and have a good time. Focusing on the turkey as the center of your crafting projects really is a great way to make your holiday crafting fun and even educational!

Using Thanksgiving Crafts for Homeschooling

We love using crafts to learn, and Thanksgiving is a great time to do this! You can easily use these crafts to talk about the fall colors, shapes, turkeys and their habits, what turkeys eat, and even learn about the original Thanksgiving and harvest celebrations.

Here are some great printables and lessons to use alongside these crafts in your homeschool classroom:

As you can see, these easy Thanksgiving crafts are a perfect addition to a cool fall afternoon or a fall lesson plan for your homeschool classroom. Turkey crafts are tons of fun, and you’ll find not only will the kids enjoy making them, but so will you!

Decorating for Halloween can be so much fun but, also can get pretty expensive pretty quickly. Plus, the Halloween Decorations seem to mostly be on the larger side. Who wants to store those?? The best thing you can do is decorate with things you already have. This way they don’t take up any extra room.

10 Halloween Decorations You Probably Already Own

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This list will show some amazing Halloween decorations that you didn’t know you had on hand already! Make a list and start grabbing the items that fit your needs to create some fun Halloween decor for your home!

Clothes for Halloween Decorations

Sweatshirts/Shirts/Pants

We all have clothes that we just don’t wear anymore or, that our kids have grown out of. Take advantage of that and make a few scarecrows or yard props. With little effort, you can have lifelike Halloween Decorations. Simply stuff them with old newspapers or straw and you are done.

Socks

Plain white socks make perfect ghosts. You can stuff them (just the toe of the sock) with Kleenex, tissue paper, newspaper or other fabric scraps. Use a rubber band or string to tie it shut so your stuffing doesn’t fall out. Grab a permanent fabric marker and draw your ghostly face on it. Use fishing line to hang them so it gives the illusion that they are just floating there. These make perfect porch decorations.

Bed Sheets as Halloween Decorations

This one is super simple. Once your bedsheets start to thin or, even get holes in them, don’t toss them in the garbage. They can be used to toss over fence posts or smaller trees to make ghosts. Colored sheets work great for bits and pieces of kids costumes as well!

Craft Supplies for Halloween Decorations

With card stock or paper, you can easily make window decorations. Whether you print them off or you (or your kids) create them on your own, this is probably the easiest way to decorate for Halloween. I love these Easy Spinning Ghosts that you can make in minutes using the paper you already have on hand!

Music for Halloween

This one is pretty simple too. While it isn’t your typical decorations, it can surely help set the mood while the trick or treaters are out. We love using some classic music we’ve collected over the years. If you need to purchase, I recommend the Halloween Classics CD or the Now That’s What I Call Halloween Music CD. You can also check out what is available on Amazon Music

Toilet Paper/Paper Towel Rolls

These can be used to make eyes peeking out of your bushes. The paper towel rolls need to cut in half. Draw your eyes on it, cut them out. Add a glow stick on the inside. Place it inside the tree or bush. A perfect upcycled Halloween decoration. We are big fans of upcycling and recycling, so this is perfect to go alongside our Frankenstein Tin Can craft idea!

Recycled Boxes as Halloween Decorations

Almost everyone has a box or two waiting to go into the recycling bin. Why not make them useful before you get rid of them. Boxes would make for fun “life size” cut outs, either for your yard or porch. Paint them gray and use as a headstone for a fake cemetery. Spray paint orange and black as a fake jack-o-lantern. The possibilities are endless!

Toilet Paper for Mummies

Using toilet paper you can wrap pretty much anything up and call it a mummy!! The best part is; if it rips or looks kind of weird it still works. Making mummies is a perfect job for the kids! Get them involved in the decorating as well.

Black Garbage Bags as Halloween Decorations

These are the huge black ones meant for outdoor garbages. Fill these up with leaves or newspapers that make another great job for the kids and make a huge spider and put in the front yard. Cover a few pool noodles in them for legs and you are all set. It’s amazing how a bit of spray paint and a garbage bag can turn into a new decoration.

Markers for various decoration needs

Markers are a pretty common art supply to have laying around (with or without kids in the house). What do these have to do with decorating for Halloween? Easy! Draw on your windows!!! Regular washable markers draw perfectly on windows and, are pretty easy to clean off when you are done.

If your windows are covered you can draw on the outside otherwise it would work best to draw on the inside. Just be sure to draw backwards so it looks correct for onlookers.

Halloween Fun for the Whole Family

If you are beyond the years where it is “cool” to go out trick-or-treating with your kids, invite a few people over. Have them dress up and pretend to be lawn decorations. When the older kids come along they can give them a little bit of a scare just by moving. These are super simple and close to free options to decorate your yard and house for this upcoming Halloween season. Plus, it would be tons of fun to watch the kids be startled.

As you can see, it’s easy to find some great Halloween decorations that you already have around the house. A few minutes time, some ingenuity, and items you have on hand and you’ll find you have more than enough to make your home look amazing for the holiday!

Aliens are a mystical creature in our mind’s eye. So, this Dollar Tree Crafts Easy Alien Craft is ideal for letting your imagination run wild! What started out as an idea for a St. Patrick’s Day craft from my friend Katie from The Homespun Hydrangea, quickly, in my eyes, became an alien craft. I suppose all of my years of watching alien and sci-fi movies with the guys has warped my mind a bit!

Dollar Tree Crafts Easy Alien Craft

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Crafting doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, when you order online, it is both convenient and affordable. So, making this fun Alien Craft with your kids, those in your preschool, homeschool group, church, or other group is super easy. All you have to do is go online, pick out supplies, and order! They come straight to your door! For my friends who have younger kids underfoot, this is a nice way to get craft supplies without the hassle of heading to the store.

Supplies needed from Dollar Tree Online:

All supplies are readily available online at DollarTree.com, and affordable to order in large batches to have on hand for a fun homeschool class party!

Directions For Easy Alien Craft:

1. Begin by cutting a small heart from the green felt. These will be the feet of your critter. Add a dab of glue and place the critter on top of the felt.
2. Add glue to both of your googly eyes and press them to the pom pom to assemble the face.
3. Snip the pipe cleaner into two segments for antennae. Add a dab of glue to each end and press to the top of the pom pom.
4. Cut a small clover, heart, or another unique shape out of the green felt. Add a dab of glue and press to one of the antennae.
5. Once dry, your critter is ready to be displayed.

This alien craft is super easy, fun, and affordable. Just like we like in our local homeschool group. When you bring a dozen or more children together to create something fun at a group outing, you want it to be simple and inexpensive. No complicated instructions, and definitely no glitter. Okay…glitter is occasionally popular, but this mom, for one, hates it! So, heading to Dollar Tree online when I am inspired with a craft idea, ordering 1-2 dozen of each product needed, and having it show up directly on my doorstep is a great solution!

I love craft sticks, and so does my good friend Katie from The Homespun Hydrangea. So, this fun Wooden Craft Sticks Native American Kids Craft idea is a craft I love that she made for us. She has such fun ideas and always does a better job than me at making them. This idea is perfect for fall and Thanksgiving themed projects!

Wooden Craft Sticks Native American Dolls

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Craft sticks are one of the most affordable items to add to your craft closet. Along with the felt, you will use some glue, and scissors, to create these fun decorations. They are perfect for use in homeschool lessons, or to use and create a doll that can be used for telling stories.

Wooden craft sticks make Native American dolls that are perfect for going alongside a great Thanksgiving themed homeschool unit study. We love using a simple craft, some worksheets, and a few books to create a unit study that focuses on learning in multiple ways about one singular topic. It makes it much easier for kids to retain the information long term and holds their attention.

Directions:
1. Begin by cutting out the head dress for the Native American dolls. A small tan strip and 3 colorful ovals per doll works well.

2. Create vests for each Native American by cutting out two brown half circles per Indian.
3. For the bottoms, you can create a fringed skirt by cutting a simple triangle and flattening the pointy end and fringing the opposite end. For pants, a simple rectangle will do. Use brown felt for both.

4. Start gluing the clothing and head dresses into place. Your hot glue will work well at keeping it adhered.
5. Now add a face on each Indian by using a black marker. Just make some gentle curves for closed eyes and a dot for the mouth.

Note: One thing I want to share is that I wavered between calling these Indians and calling them Native Americans. I chose to go with Native Americans because I feel that it honestly is the correct term. While I grew up hearing the term “Pilgrims & Indians” around Thanksgiving, I don’t feel it is accurate. I want to teach my so to use the correct term, so I felt it was important to do so her as well.

Making this fun craft sticks craft is just another great way to incorporate learning and playtime. I am a firm believer that kids will learn and retain information longer if it is fun for them. By creating these Native American dolls using wooden craft sticks, you give your kids a fun craft that also allows them to learn and retain information.

I love wooden craft sticks ideas, and this Pumpkin Kids Craft is such a perfect idea for fall! There is just something fun about grabbing the craft sticks and creating something fun. They aren’t just for making frozen treats anymore! So, my friend Katie from The Homespun Hydrangea made these super cute crafts for us to share this week!

Wooden Craft Sticks Pumpkin Kids Craft

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Wooden craft sticks are some of those classic items always found in our craft bin. From using to stir paint to making fun things like this, they are some of the best inexpensive craft supplies you’ll buy. I think that this simple pumpkin kids craft is ideal for propping up on a ledge to add decor to a room or adding some heavy duty magnets to the back to add some seasonal theme to your refrigerator door.

Turn this wooden craft sticks idea into a fun homeschool lesson in no time. I love the idea of setting the kids up to create the craft while you work on reading to them about pumpkins, their symbolism in the fall, and even Thanksgiving or Halloween topics.

Directions:
1. Begin by applying two coats of paint to the craft sticks. You only need to add the paint to one side. Allow it to dry.
2. Once your paint is dry, line the sticks up next to each other so the unpainted side is facing up.
3. Take an additional stick and glue it across the back of the painted sticks. This will help hold them all together.

4. Turn the sticks over. Glue a twisted pipe cleaner to the top for a stem.
5. Cut some simple ovals from green felt. Fringe the edges with scissors. Glue the leaves to the pipe cleaner and your pumpkin is complete.

As you can see, this Wooden Craft Sticks Pumpkin Kids Craft is a great choice for making as an afternoon craft that can help you decorate or simply keep the kids busy. We always keep craft sticks and paint on hand, and the other items for making this are so inexpensive that you can make tons of these for just a few dollars.